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NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION taminated runoff from active and abandoned mine sites are discussed in section 9 on "Mineral ~'~"'~"``~"~`"~`°` ` Development. ") Improved regulation of nonpoint sources was one of the objectives of the 1987 amendments to the Clean Water Act.21 These amendments required the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a new program for the control of urban storm runoff, including runoff from large construction sites. As implemented by EPA, the new program treats these types of runoff as "point source" dis- charges requiring a permit, obtainable upon commit- ment to comply with a variety of pollution and sediment control tech- niques.22 While this new program could provide comprehensive control of urban and industrial stormwater runoff, it relies heav- ily on voluntary compliance, both in giving notice of activities subject to the general permit requirements and in implementing the pollution control techniques required by those permits. Unfortunately, the 1987 amendments were less rigorous in addressing other nonpoint sources of pol- lution. The amendments require states to identify nonpoint sources of pollution and to develop man- agement strategies to address them. But no specific or mandatory remedies are required. Many state non- point source control programs thus provide for rec- ommended adoption of "best management practices" -pollution and sediment control techniques that can be executed in conjunction with land use activi- ties such as agriculture and road construction. Furthermore, the Environmental Protection Agency's review and approval of state nonpoint source pro- grams allows states broad discretion in shaping the content and effectiveness of their plans. The 1987 amendments also retained an exemp- tion from point source regulation for "return flows from irrigated agriculture" and added a new exemp- tion for "agricultural storm water discharges." These exemptions could complicate and weaken state efforts to address these sources under a nonpoint source program. The new urban and industrial storm water runoff programs may help to reduce sediment runoff from urban areas, but the 1987 amendments included no specific provisions addressing sedimen- tation from agricultural activities. Some marginal improvements could come from individual farmer's water quality protection plans, for which incentive payments were authorized under the 1990 Amendments to the Food Security Act of 1985.23 But the amount of incentives payable are unlikely to encourage the broad-based changes in practice neces- sary for significant improvement. The 1987 amend- merits also do not explicitly address the problem of downstream impacts from sediment generated by dredge and fill operations. Existing federal regula- tions prohibit or significantly restrict direct destruc- tion of wetlands from dredge and fill operations, and recently proposed regulations would make clear that the prohibitions include redeposit of dredged mate- rial in a manner that would degrade waters or wet- lands.24 Unfortunately, neither the existing or pro- posed regulations are explicit in protecting against downstream impacts from the accretion of suspended sediments generated by these activities. Moreover, underfunded, understaffed or indif- ferent federal and state enforcement agencies are often unable to address water quality problems until after serious damage has occurred. Even when exist- 35 Pollutants and sediments in nonpoint source runoff from agricultural, urban, industrial and residential areas can destroy the rich web of life in wetlands, such as these at Colonial National Historic Parh.